Brian Kelly made more than a few Notre Dame fans bristle when he eschewed a 36-yard field goal and took to the air against Tulsa in his first season as Irish head coach, letting freshman quarterback Tommy Rees target All-American Michael Floyd on a jump ball in the end zone. The result of the pass was an interception and a back-breaking loss, the low point of an era that’s seen plenty of ups and downs. When asked about the decision in the post game press conference after the game, Kelly confidently told the reporters there that we all better “get used to it.”

It was a perfect snapshot of the head coach, a man no worried about sounding tone deaf or apologetic to the masses. Kelly was a man that had run a program before, and wasn’t about to doubt the convictions that led him to one of college football’s most high profile positions when he stepped foot in the pressure cooker.

“We’ll make that play. We didn’t make it today,” Kelly said back in October of 2010. “But in time, we’ll make that play.”

Unflinching in his belief in himself and his rebuilt coaching staff, Kelly showed that same resolve this season when he took a redshirt freshman and rode him through growing pains all the way to the NCAA championship game. Winning with defense, Kelly showed tremendous versatility for a guy hired for his offensive innovator status. He turned his offense from a throw-first, spread team to a power-running group of chain movers.

Building a team through unprecedented recruiting success, excellent player development, and with a singular vision for the program for the first time since Lou Holtz, it was only a matter of time before the NFL began kicking the tires on the first Notre Dame coach to over-perform with his talent since 1988.

The whispers of NFL interest came in the days leading up to the game, though they were summarily dismissed by Irish fans too concerned about a national title run. And while certain fans are now cherry-picking quotes from the non-stop media access both team’s granted, Kelly was remarkably candid about the NFL, never issuing a zero interest statement.

So get used to it, Irish fans. Maybe even embrace it.

You’ve finally got a football program people want a piece of. Finally have a coach that runs a unified outfit filled with loyal coaches all with a singular, process-oriented mind. If you thought that a 20-plus year veteran of the head coaching ranks wouldn’t be part of the vetting process for one of seven NFL teams looking for a new leader, you were only fooling yourself.

While I don’t think Kelly is going to the NFL, I do think he owes it to himself to listen to any team that wants to have a discussion. That doesn’t make him any different than Chip Kelly, Bill O’Brien, Doug Marrone, Greg Shiano, or Will Muschamp, the head coach that pulled in Alex Anzalone after the oft-waffling recruit decided to head to Gainsville instead of South Bend.

Just as important, he also owes it to himself to capitalize on his value now. Not just for the head coach, but the assistants working under him. A group that’s being vetted by athletic directors all across the country, and being paid at a price point befitting of a mid-range Big Ten school, not one of college football’s most profitable programs — now one of its best. If solidifying the financial futures of his staff, and the head coach, cost Kelly just one top prospect to Florida, call it the trade of the century. (Are Irish fans still weeping over Justin Trattou?)

Don’t get me wrong, Kelly is playing a delicate game, a high-wire act that could come back to bite him. But Jack Swarbrick isn’t stupid. And ask Boston College how giving a successful head coach an ultimatum about the NFL worked. They’re still digging themselves out of a hole. While the intel has only come through back channels, multiple reports have Notre Dame brass hard at work ironing out contract extensions and pay bumps for Kelly and his assistants. And if that’s the case, a 48-hours in limbo was well worth it.

Will it cost Kelly a few approval points among fans of the program? Any coach that openly lobbies for field turf and a Jumbotron at Notre Dame isn’t too worried about his constituents’ feelings.

So while it’s been a topsy-turvy time for Irish fans still smarting from the trouncing Alabama put on their favorite team, it’s a nice reminder that the Irish finally have a coach worth sweating over.

Notre Dame received the commitment of 4-star offensive tackle Aaron Banks on Friday afternoon. Picking the Irish over a national offer list that included Michigan, Tennessee, and local programs USC and UCLA, the 6-foot-7, 335-pound Banks reminded all that even if the Irish only won four games this season, Harry Hiestand is still one of the premier offensive line coaches in the country.

Banks made the commitment from a ceremony at his high school in El Cerrito, California. And when he picked the Irish, he added to Notre Dame’s impressive offensive line haul, joining Dillan Gibbons, Joshua Lugg and Robert Hainsey — a key piece of the puzzle moving forward.

Banks is a consensus 4-star recruit and a Top 200 prospect. He took an official visit to Michigan in November, but has been a long-time target of Hiestand’s, visiting South Bend in September and welcoming Brian Kelly and Hiestand into his home after the USC game.

As a big recruiting weekend gets started at Notre Dame, the annual Echoes Awards will serve as the beginning of an important home stretch for a program without a bowl game. As Kelly still looks to lock in a defensive coordinator, not to mention other staff changes still in the air, Banks takes back some of the lost momentum, a key commitment heading into a holiday dead period before a furious finish leading into the first Wednesday in February.

Banks is No. 18 in the Irish recruiting class. He’s an early-enrollee, ready to hit campus within weeks and compete on the interior of the offensive line during spring ball.

Big week for The Observer. Not just for its advertising revenues, but for the classy gesture that outgoing senior quarterback Malik Zaire made this week.

Thursday’s edition included a letter to the editor from Zaire, who took to the student newspaper not to make headlines around the internet, but rather to thank the university for his experience in South Bend.

While Zaire’s time at Notre Dame is drawing to a close, he will leave as a proud alum. So while he’ll play football next season at another university, Zaire wrote the following in Thursday’s issue:

Dear Notre Dame students and staff,

My life changed for the better the moment I stepped onto the University of Notre Dame’s beautiful campus. The one goal I had set in my mind to achieve was to become a better man, a Notre Dame man. After growing through many trials and triumphs, the thing I’ve learned most from my experience was that if you don’t believe in yourself first, then no one else will. I believed in becoming a better man and succeeding through any circumstance, and I can say that I’ve truly accomplished that. I often refer to the famous quote from the movie “Catch Me If You Can” that was well put by Frank Abagnale:

“Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out.”

I’ve put my heart, soul and passion into the University, the football program, the South Bend community and the Irish community worldwide. I have the unbelievable honor to represent this University to the fullest as a student and soon-to-be alumni. Thank you to the amazing students and staff that I’ve met through the years for helping me grow into the person I’ve always wanted to be. I love the Irish and will always be an Irish alum no matter where I go! I look forward to keeping in touch. Let’s change the world!

Go Irish!

Malik Zaire

Senior
Dec. 7

Zaire is expected to compete for a starting quarterback job next year as a graduate transfer. He’s reportedly taken a visit to Wisconsin and plans to visit North Carolina as well, just two of several programs on the radar as Zaire looks to step in and win a starting Power 5 job.

It’s evaluation season. With college football’s regular season over, the focus now turns to the stay-or-go decision that faces many of college football’s best players. Return for another season? Or head to the NFL?

That’s the big question facing DeShone Kizer. Viewed as a can’t-miss prospect by some earlier in the season, Kizer now awaits feedback from the NFL’s advisory board, who’ll give him either a first-round grade, a second-round grade, or none — essentially serving as a message to return to school.

That feedback is something Kizer’s requested, with Brian Kelly revealing that Kizer is one of four underclassmen requesting a review, joined by Mike McGlinchey, Nyles Morgan and Quenton Nelson.

And while most still think it’s merely a formality before Kizer heads to the NFL, two of the media’s most well-established pundits, ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, are among those who actually think Kizer should stay in school.

There’s really only one guy right now, and he might not even enter the draft. That’s North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky, a fourth-year junior who is in his first season as the starter. Trubisky has thrown 28 touchdown passes to only four interceptions, but he’s still green — with another year of seasoning, he could be the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft. He’s not ready to play right away in the NFL.

I don’t see any other first-rounders in the group. Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, a third-year sophomore, has to go back to school. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson has taken a step back this season. Underclassmen Luke Falkand Patrick Mahomes could use another year in school, and they don’t project as first-rounders.

McShay echoed Kiper’s evaluation of Kizer, stating: “Kizer needs another year.” And if the Irish get that, it means they’ll have a 1-2 depth chart of a third-year starter in Kizer and junior Brandon Wimbush, who saved a year of eligibility in 2016 and has three remaining.

Kizer’s been clear that he hasn’t made up his mind, planning on talking with his family about the decision in the weeks following the season. And with the year-end banquet this weekend with Notre Dame hosting the “Echoes,” that decision might come sooner than later.

Last year, the NFL draft wasn’t kind to the Irish roster. Four key players gave up eligibility to head to the NFL, with Ronnie Stanley going in the Top 10 to the Baltimore Ravens and Will Fuller joining him as a first-round selection after going to the Houston Texans. Even injured, JaylonSmith was taken near the top of the second round by Dallas andC.J. Prosise was a third-round selection of the Seattle Seahawks.

Jack Swarbrick spoke extensively about the state of the Notre Dame football program. Released last Friday and a part of Swarbrick’s weekly podcast, the Irish athletic director covered the laundry list of hot-button issues, including Brian Kelly’s status, the NCAA order to vacate wins that Notre Dame is appealing, and the challenge of winning football games in today’s environment.

The entire 25 minutes are worth a listen, as Swarbrick and Nolan cover just about every question and complaint that’s out there. And in case you don’t have that time, here’s a quick breakdown:

Swarbrick on the 2016 season.

“It was an extremely disappointing year. Every player, every coach, myself, other administrators involved in the program, we all share the same view. There’s no way around that conclusion. It’s not bad breaks, it’s not a play here, a play there. We didn’t do what we need to do. So we do start from that perspective.

“I think there’s a danger in overreacting to any one piece of information that you get in the course of the evaluation of football programs. That begins with, it looks one way from a this-season perspective, but it feels a little different to me from a two-season perspective.”

Swarbrick on the evaluation process:

“I’m looking at the program. Wins and losses are a huge indicia of where the program is, but it’s not the only one. More important to me, frankly, is the experience of our students. My interaction with them and what their interactions with the coaches, and the environment and are we meeting their expectations. Now, we clearly didn’t meet their expectations competitively this year, because they want to win, too. But on many of the other things, the program elements are in good shape.”

On the off-field issues, and the challenges that faced the football team this fall.

“I don’t want to do anything to minimize the disappointments, whether they’re competitive or unacceptable behavior in the last game at USC by one of our players, obviously, which just isn’t acceptable, it isn’t okay. The disciplinary issues we had to deal with at the front of the year, none of those are acceptable, all of those go into the evaluation, but those are the only ones that sort of get the public scrutiny. I’m dealing with the other 120 young men who are for the most part like my co-host James (Onwualu), doing everything right, making every right decision, having a real positive experience. You’ve got to look at it all, not just isolated elements of it.

Discussing the disappointment of the NCAA’s ruling to vacate wins and why the university is appealing:

“If you’d merely expelled the students, you wouldn’t get this penalty. But because you went though an educative process and kept them in school and adjusted credits and made those things, you subjected yourself to this penalty. That seems like a bad message to send, but that’s one that we’re continuing to advocate for down the road.”

On the challenges of winning in today’s college football, as opposed to 30 years ago.

“I think undoubtedly it is harder. Now, people from that era may have a different view. But there are things that make it harder. But it doesn’t make any difference. It’s harder to win basketball games than it was back then. It’s harder to do a number of things.

“We don’t treat any of that as an excuse or a reason to have different goals. I sort of embrace that. Some of those things that you might view as obstacles are ultimately the things that we have to offer young people. It is the eliteness of the institution and the quality of the education. You can’t say it’s an obstacle and then talk about how great it is because it helps you. That’s the way it is. I wouldn’t trade anything for the circumstance we now compete in. I think it is exactly what it should be. We have to do a better job with it, that’s all.”